


Home For Christmas

by missingelderly



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingelderly/pseuds/missingelderly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been six months since Josh has seen Sam. Luckily, he has a plan for the best reunion ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarborn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarborn/gifts).



> This gift was written for the Until Dawn Secret Santa 2015. I hope you enjoy it, and happy holidays!

It was the first day of summer and the airport was hot enough to prove it. Sam and Josh were sweating bullets by the time they lugged all of Josh’s carryon luggage to his terminal. He was paranoid of losing his camera equipment and insisted to bring it on the plane himself. Once they arrived, Sam collapsed into an open chair, hand thrown dramatically over her forehead. Josh quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Just say the word, and I’ll tell my dad I changed my mind,” he said, taking the seat next to her.

“No way,” Sam replied. It was an automatic response by now. “Can you even imagine the hassle of trying to get back the luggage we already checked in?”

He put an arm around her. “Nothing compared to the hassle of not seeing you for six months.”

Sam frowned and laid her head on his shoulder. She would be leaving California to work in Seattle. It wasn’t that far away, and if Josh was staying in town then they could still see each other on weekends. The drive wasn’t too bad, and little road trips up and down the coast would be fun.

But his dad offered him some producer credits if he joined him on a six-month long shoot in New Zealand. It was a tempting offer, but Josh had been hesitant to accept it. He was finally settling into his role as a fully functioning adult and was afraid a change of scenery would be bad for him. Sam was the one who forced him to go. Besides, she had said, her own career was beginning to fall into place. This would only be good for them.

Still, he couldn’t help but notice how depressed she had been all week. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She grabbed his hand and kissed it.

“I have to go,” Sam said, standing up.

Josh stood and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Only half a year to go.”

She pulled away and laughed. “It won’t be long at all.”

She was still crying as she walked away.

\- - -

Six months, Josh thought as he sat in the airport terminal. Six long months of skype calls, letters, cutesy LDR apps. Sure, he had been so busy that even if Sam were with him he wouldn’t have time to see her. But there were certain things that a screen couldn’t capture; the way Sam’s hair felt under his fingers, how she would bury her face in her hands after one of Josh’s bad jokes, how her eyes looked in sunlight.

Sam knew he was coming home soon. She just didn’t know when. Christmas Eve had to be the last day she expected. Which is why Josh had devised the perfect homecoming scheme.  
He had it all laid out: Chris would host a Christmas shindig, which he would invite Sam to. Beth would smuggle Josh into the garage while Ash stood guard. She would wrap him up like a present and get Mike to carry him inside. Sam would open the box, and then boom— best reunion ever.

“Or you could just show up like a normal person,” Beth had said when he called to divulge his plan. “But I guess it wouldn’t be you if you weren’t cooking up some grand scheme.”

It was three o’clock. He had already suffered a grueling flight from London to New York. He would start to board his connecting flight soon. Just being in the same country as her again made Josh smile. No longer was there an ocean between them. 

He a few drops of rain splatter against the window, and counted down the hours until she would be in his arms again. He hummed a few bars of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” to pass the time.

\- - -

Sam couldn’t believe it.

Chris’ front yard was covered in snow. In typical California style, it was nearly 80 degrees out, but apparently that hadn’t stopped him. His house stood out amongst the neighbors’, a winter wonderland amidst a tropical island. Her converse crunched through the faux-snow. Chris must have heard her approach, because before she could even knock the door was flung open.

“Lady Samantha has graced us with her presence!” he boomed. “Pray tell, was it a long journey from the kingdom of Seattle?”

She smiled and rolled her eyes. “You and I both know I was here last week.” She gestured to the yard. “You really rented a snow machine for a kickback?”

Chris shrugged. “It’s festive. Where’s your Christmas spirit?”

An ocean away. She offered him her arm and led him inside.

The usual suspects were there. Ash, Matt, and Jess were engrossed in a game of Mario Kart while Mike, Em, and Hannah cheered them on. Jess crossed the finish line first and the room exploded into shouts of joy and dismay. As she was bowing to the room, she caught Sam’s eye.

“Sam’s here!” she announced.

“About time,” Mike said. “I’ve been itching to play some Smash Bros.”

“What a coincidence,” Sam said, flopping onto the armchair across from him. “I’ve been itching to kick some ass.”

A chorus of “ohhh”’s and “get wrecked”’s erupted. Sam laughed along with them.

Beth exited the kitchen, sliding her phone into her pocket, a worried look on her face. When she saw Sam she quickly turned her frown into a grin. But Sam knew her better than that.

“Everything okay, Beth?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah, absolutely,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Chris, wanna help me with these drinks?”

They vanished into the kitchen together. If Sam didn’t know any better, she would suspect debauchery.

“You alright, Sam?” Matt asked.

“Yeah,” Sam said, turning towards him. “I just—”

The hideousness of his sweater interrupted her sentence. It was green with plaid snowmen emblazoned on the front. The worst part was that he didn’t seem to notice how bad it looked.

“Matt, it’s not an ugly sweater party.”

He looked offended. “What kind of Christmas party doesn’t have ugly sweaters?”

“Not a Christmas party I’d like to be a part of,” Mike announced, throwing an arm over Matt’s shoulders. His sweater had working lights that twinkled around a frolicking reindeer. Sam pretended to vomit into her cup.

She kept telling herself that she was having fun, that she was happy to be with her friends. But it felt so strange without Josh there, even after all this time. He had been strangely silent all day. Knowing that both her boyfriend and her best friend weren’t acting like themselves worried her.

She sent him a quick picture of everyone and captioned it “wish you were here”. That was all she could do for now.

\- - -

This was not supposed to happen.

A snowstorm blew in and delayed flights all across the airport. Everyone was upset, of course they were, it was Christmas Eve for crying out loud, but being surrounded by agitated strangers only compounded Josh’s anxiety. He bounced his leg up and down and willed the snow away.

At least one part of his plan didn’t go astray. Sam had sent him a picture from Chris’ shindig. Everyone looked happy, and more importantly, she still had no idea. He nearly responded to her picture with “be there soon” but quickly deleted the message and sent a few dozen emojis instead. There. Still safe.

He texted Chris, telling him to call when he was well out of Sam’s earshot. His phone rang a few minutes later.

“Please tell me your calling because you’re about to board your flight and you’ll be here very, very soon.”

“I wish,” Josh said. “Does she suspect anything?”

“If she did, she would have said something by now. Any orders, Captain?”

“Keep Sam occupied until I arrive, Lieutenant. As long as it takes. Update the Colonel on my status.”

Chris sucked in air through his teeth. “Yeah, about that…she’s totally wasted.”

“God dammit,” Josh groaned. “I should have known. She’s always had a weakness for eggnog.”

“Don’t sweat it, man. We can handle the plan without Beth. No matter what happens, I will make sure you and Sam’s reunion is the stuff of rom-coms.”

For what felt like the first time all day, he smiled. “You’re the best, Cochise.” 

\- - -

“You’re the besht, Sam,” Beth slurred. “Really.”

Sam smiled patiently as she tugged off her boots. “If you need anything, Chris is right upstairs.”

Beth rolled around on the futon. “No, you’re sho good, Sam. No wonder my brother’s trying to impresh you.”

“Impress me, eh?” she asked, pulling the blanket up to Beth’s chin.

Beth shushed her and closed her eyes. “Can’t talk about it. It’s a surprise.”

Sam frowned. “What is? Beth?”

She gave her shoulder a few quick shakes but to no avail. Sam stretched and looked at a clock on the basement wall. It was nearly four in the morning. She headed back upstairs after checking on Beth once more.

Chris sprang to life when she entered the living room.

“So what now?” he asked. “Card games? Gossiping about cute boys?”

“Bed,” Sam replied.

Everyone else was way ahead of her. There wasn’t a horizontal surface in Chris house that didn’t have someone snoozing on it. Jess, Hannah, and Matt all had the couch, laying on top of one another and snoring peacefully.

“You can’t leave!” Chris whined. “The party’s just getting started!”

Sam rolled her eyes and inched her way to the front door. “It looks like it’s just about done actually,” she said, nodding toward the cuddle pile on the couch. “I want to be able to get some sleep while it’s still dark outside.”

Chris only got even more animated. “We, we could, we could play Monopoly! I’m sure Ash would be down!”

“I am not playing Monopoly again after what happened last time.”

“I solemnly swear not to flip the board this time.”

She saluted him as she turned to leave. “I’ll see you around, Chris.”

Ignoring his protests, she opened the front door, snowflakes fluttering inside. She found herself frozen in her tracks.

Josh was standing in front of her, his finger hovering above the doorbell. He had an armful of wilting roses and dark circles under his eyes. He cracked a crooked grin. “Am I late to the party?”

Sam gave him a fierce hug. They tottered on the front step for a second then collapsed into the snow.

“Josh!” she cried. “You asshole, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Her grinning face was inches from his, her cheeks flushed.

“Hence the ‘surprise’, babe.” He scooped up a handful of snow and smacked it onto her head. “Only I wasn’t supposed to be late…”

“You’re here now,” Sam said. “That’s all that matters to me.”

They kissed for the first time in six months, and it was then Sam knew she couldn’t take being apart from him anymore. When she felt his arms tighten around her, she knew she was home.

“I love you,” she murmured in his ear.

“I love you too,” he said.

They kissed again, and she heard Chris wolf-whistling from the porch. She shot him her middle finger. Nothing could ruin the best Christmas present she had ever received.


End file.
